WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Applications for weekly unemployment benefits set a new four-year low, the government reported Thursday, in another sign that the U.S. labor market continues to gradually improve.

Initial claims fell by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 348,000, the lowest level since February 2008, the Labor Department said.

Claims from the prior week were revised up to 353,000 from an original reading of 351,000.

The level of claims is an indicator of whether layoffs are rising or falling. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had estimated claims would rise to 353,000 in the week ended March 17.

The four-week average of claims, meanwhile, dipped 1,250 to 355,000, just slightly above a four-year low. The monthly average provides a more accurate view of labor-market trends by reducing week-to-week volatility caused by seasonal quirks.

Claims usually range between 300,000 and 400,000 when the economy is growing. New applications for benefits fell below the key 400,000 threshold in the first week of January and have remained there since. Lately claims have settled in the 350,000 range.

Improvement in the labor market is reflected by the monthly employment figures. The U.S. economy has created an average of 245,000 jobs in each of the past three months, the fastest burst of hiring since the recession officially ended in mid-2009.

“The key point here is that the underlying trend in claims is downward, and the current level is already low enough to be consistent with payroll gains around the 250,000 mark,” said chief U.S. economist Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics.

Also, initial claims hit another four year low - they're now at their lowest level since April '08.

e: To clarify, in theory the GDP & GDI numbers should be equal, but since this isn't an exact science, they're usually revised until they are. The good news here is that GDP's generally revised toward GDI.

The Labor Department reported Friday that the economy generated 120,000 jobs last March, well below the 203,000 expected and breaking a streak of robust job reports since the beginning of the year. The unemployment rate fell to 8.2 percent from 8.3 percent in February.

Obama's most likely Republican opponent now, Mitt Romney, had a slightly different take on the data “This is a weak and very troubling jobs report that shows the employment market remains stagnant," he said in a statement on his campaign's website.

The Labor Department reported Friday that the economy generated 120,000 jobs last March, well below the 203,000 expected and breaking a streak of robust job reports since the beginning of the year. The unemployment rate fell to 8.2 percent from 8.3 percent in February.

Obama's most likely Republican opponent now, Mitt Romney, had a slightly different take on the data “This is a weak and very troubling jobs report that shows the employment market remains stagnant," he said in a statement on his campaign's website.

This is meh-economic news rather than good-economic news. 120K new jobs per month is not going to put a dent in long term unemployment and the decline in the unemployment rate was because people stopped looking for work. While it is not the bad economic news Romney needs to get elected, it is not the good economic news America needs either.

Yeah, we should have a "meh economic news" thread for the jobs report.

Not bad, but hardly good numbers. Still, it doesn't change the overall forecast - accounting for the unseasonably warm winter etc., just unfortunately means that the recovery didn't accelerate in March.

Americans' self-reported daily spending in stores, restaurants, gas stations, and online averaged $74 per day in March, up from $63 in February, and up 16% compared with the same month a year ago ($64). The best economic confidence in four years, strong job creation, higher gas prices, warmer weather than usual, and a relatively early Easter are likely responsible for sending self-reported consumer spending up in March.

Disappointing job numbers but Governor 47th of 50 wouldn't be any better. But 2001-2009 when it came to job creation wasn't great. Just as well it was very low when Clinton left office

Mediocrity is generally not rewarded with re-election in America.

Is that why Governor Romney got out of Massachuetts in 2006 ?

No, Santorum and his ilk made the Republican brand toxic in 2005/2006 with their emphasis upon Big Government social conservatism. While Romney still could have won re-election, it would have been an exhausting experience because of the barriers erected by Santorum and Co.

Logged

"Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."

Disappointing job numbers but Governor 47th of 50 wouldn't be any better. But 2001-2009 when it came to job creation wasn't great. Just as well it was very low when Clinton left office

Mediocrity is generally not rewarded with re-election in America.

Is that why Governor Romney got out of Massachuetts in 2006 ?

No, Santorum and his ilk made the Republican brand toxic in 2005/2006 with their emphasis upon Big Government social conservatism. While Romney still could have won re-election, it would have been an exhausting experience because of the barriers erected by Santorum and Co.

Disappointing job numbers but Governor 47th of 50 wouldn't be any better. But 2001-2009 when it came to job creation wasn't great. Just as well it was very low when Clinton left office

Mediocrity is generally not rewarded with re-election in America.

Is that why Governor Romney got out of Massachuetts in 2006 ?

No, Santorum and his ilk made the Republican brand toxic in 2005/2006 with their emphasis upon Big Government social conservatism. While Romney still could have won re-election, it would have been an exhausting experience because of the barriers erected by Santorum and Co.

Let's not forget, he had a presidential campaign to lose!

Reagan and Nixon lost their first presidential bids, so don't be so sure that the past is an indicator of the future with regards to Romney and the presidency. I am not as confident as I was six months ago, but I still feel like Romney is going to win this thing.

Logged

"Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."

Disappointing job numbers but Governor 47th of 50 wouldn't be any better. But 2001-2009 when it came to job creation wasn't great. Just as well it was very low when Clinton left office

Mediocrity is generally not rewarded with re-election in America.

Is that why Governor Romney got out of Massachuetts in 2006 ?

No, Santorum and his ilk made the Republican brand toxic in 2005/2006 with their emphasis upon Big Government social conservatism. While Romney still could have won re-election, it would have been an exhausting experience because of the barriers erected by Santorum and Co.

Wouldn't mandating everyone in the commonwealth buy health insurance be considered "Big Government social conservatism"?

In the 1990s, it was small government conservatism. In the mid to late 2000s, it was big government conservatism. In the early 2010s, it is Marxism-Leninism, the end goal that Bill Ayers had for America.

The Labor Department reported Friday that the economy generated 120,000 jobs last March, well below the 203,000 expected and breaking a streak of robust job reports since the beginning of the year. The unemployment rate fell to 8.2 percent from 8.3 percent in February.

Obama's most likely Republican opponent now, Mitt Romney, had a slightly different take on the data “This is a weak and very troubling jobs report that shows the employment market remains stagnant," he said in a statement on his campaign's website.

This is meh-economic news rather than good-economic news. 120K new jobs per month is not going to put a dent in long term unemployment and the decline in the unemployment rate was because people stopped looking for work. While it is not the bad economic news Romney needs to get elected, it is not the good economic news America needs either.

Perhaps you should wait about the inevitable revision. I read that sometimes as much as 100 thousand jobs get added in revised jobs reports.

The Labor Department reported Friday that the economy generated 120,000 jobs last March, well below the 203,000 expected and breaking a streak of robust job reports since the beginning of the year. The unemployment rate fell to 8.2 percent from 8.3 percent in February.

Obama's most likely Republican opponent now, Mitt Romney, had a slightly different take on the data “This is a weak and very troubling jobs report that shows the employment market remains stagnant," he said in a statement on his campaign's website.

This is meh-economic news rather than good-economic news. 120K new jobs per month is not going to put a dent in long term unemployment and the decline in the unemployment rate was because people stopped looking for work. While it is not the bad economic news Romney needs to get elected, it is not the good economic news America needs either.

Perhaps you should wait about the inevitable revision. I read that sometimes as much as 100 thousand jobs get added in revised jobs reports.

Or they can get taken away, and if they be this would transform this from meh to bad. However, there's no way to know whether when revised if this stays meh, or becomes good or bad. Right now, it's meh, so it's meh.

The Labor Department reported Friday that the economy generated 120,000 jobs last March, well below the 203,000 expected and breaking a streak of robust job reports since the beginning of the year. The unemployment rate fell to 8.2 percent from 8.3 percent in February.

Obama's most likely Republican opponent now, Mitt Romney, had a slightly different take on the data “This is a weak and very troubling jobs report that shows the employment market remains stagnant," he said in a statement on his campaign's website.

This is meh-economic news rather than good-economic news. 120K new jobs per month is not going to put a dent in long term unemployment and the decline in the unemployment rate was because people stopped looking for work. While it is not the bad economic news Romney needs to get elected, it is not the good economic news America needs either.

Perhaps you should wait about the inevitable revision. I read that sometimes as much as 100 thousand jobs get added in revised jobs reports.

Or they can get taken away, and if they be this would transform this from meh to bad. However, there's no way to know whether when revised if this stays meh, or becomes good or bad. Right now, it's meh, so it's meh.

Gallup's key U.S. economic indicators tell a consistent story of improving economic and behavioral conditions. Americans' self-reported employment status, personal spending, and workplace hiring trends were all better in March than in February, and were improved over March 2011, although still below pre-recession levels. In addition, Americans' ratings of the U.S. economy were at a four-year high. However, that was prior to last week's disappointing Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report and Wall Street's latest downturn. Those events could spark another reversal like so many others that have occurred since 2009, but thus far, Gallup indicators suggest otherwise.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Applications for weekly unemployment benefits set a new four-year low, the government reported Thursday, in another sign that the U.S. labor market continues to gradually improve.

Initial claims fell by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 348,000, the lowest level since February 2008, the Labor Department said.

Claims from the prior week were revised up to 353,000 from an original reading of 351,000.

The level of claims is an indicator of whether layoffs are rising or falling. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had estimated claims would rise to 353,000 in the week ended March 17.

The four-week average of claims, meanwhile, dipped 1,250 to 355,000, just slightly above a four-year low. The monthly average provides a more accurate view of labor-market trends by reducing week-to-week volatility caused by seasonal quirks.

Claims usually range between 300,000 and 400,000 when the economy is growing. New applications for benefits fell below the key 400,000 threshold in the first week of January and have remained there since. Lately claims have settled in the 350,000 range.

Improvement in the labor market is reflected by the monthly employment figures. The U.S. economy has created an average of 245,000 jobs in each of the past three months, the fastest burst of hiring since the recession officially ended in mid-2009.

“The key point here is that the underlying trend in claims is downward, and the current level is already low enough to be consistent with payroll gains around the 250,000 mark,” said chief U.S. economist Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics.

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell less than expected last week, according to a government report on Thursday that could dampen hopes of a pick-up in job creation in April after March's slowdown.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Applications for weekly unemployment benefits set a new four-year low, the government reported Thursday, in another sign that the U.S. labor market continues to gradually improve.

Initial claims fell by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 348,000, the lowest level since February 2008, the Labor Department said.

Claims from the prior week were revised up to 353,000 from an original reading of 351,000.

The level of claims is an indicator of whether layoffs are rising or falling. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had estimated claims would rise to 353,000 in the week ended March 17.

The four-week average of claims, meanwhile, dipped 1,250 to 355,000, just slightly above a four-year low. The monthly average provides a more accurate view of labor-market trends by reducing week-to-week volatility caused by seasonal quirks.

Claims usually range between 300,000 and 400,000 when the economy is growing. New applications for benefits fell below the key 400,000 threshold in the first week of January and have remained there since. Lately claims have settled in the 350,000 range.

Improvement in the labor market is reflected by the monthly employment figures. The U.S. economy has created an average of 245,000 jobs in each of the past three months, the fastest burst of hiring since the recession officially ended in mid-2009.

“The key point here is that the underlying trend in claims is downward, and the current level is already low enough to be consistent with payroll gains around the 250,000 mark,” said chief U.S. economist Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics.

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell less than expected last week, according to a government report on Thursday that could dampen hopes of a pick-up in job creation in April after March's slowdown.